Canadian Signals Photos from 1943 to 1972

[maple_leaf_eh]

John,

Those are great shots of equipment. They also harken back to the time when as a boy, I would travel to Connaught Ranges in the summers with my father.

The 1000yd range is divided north/south by a road. Firing points, wind flags, butts and danger area to the north. The shots you posted show some of the infrastructure that I remember. Company scale bivouacs with bell tents nestled around white clapboard cookhouses and wash houses. The cookhouses weren't used as such when I was there, the single dining hall was overcrowded! But, cookhouse screen doors and lift-up serving windows were still there. The wash houses had coal fired boilers, showers on one side and low galvanized trough pissers with some really stinky shitter stalls on the other. For a child, those "elimination" places must have challenged my toilet training. However, the sight in the photos that rings most profoundly, are the rows of tall elegant elm and ash trees. Victims of invasive insects that have changed the landscape. Those trees are all gone, including the one that shooters would nail their shoes to.

[John Carmichael]

The first three photos here were taken in Ottawa in October 1944 and the fourth was taken at Connaught in July 1945. I will be adding three more in the next post which cover an important telegram from 7th May 1945 and finally another post of a further five taken at Connaught in July 1945.

[John Carmichael]

These three images show the telegram of 7th May 1944 sent to Canadian Signals units with details of the German surrender

[John Carmichael]

These were taken at Connaught in July 1945

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Fantastic photos!!! Stacked, superimposed UC 10 switchboards...what's not to love!!!

Much of the equipment and trucks are 'obsolete' by 1943/44 standards but it makes sense they would use them for training. After all at the time they would be not more than a year or two old. Interesting they call the 8cwts 15cwts. It looks like it was done with not much thought so you have to wonder if that's what they referred to them as back then.

I expect the Diamond T was required to move the W/T No.9 set around...

(Can you possibly read the 19 set serial on the original photograph? It looks suspiciously like one of mine.)

[Alex van de Wetering]

John,

Thank you so much for sharing these pictures!
It's always good to see new period pictures of 8cwts, especially these, as they are Chevrolet C8's cab 11's with cab vents, which makes them late 1940 production, just like mine....who knows, maybe one of them is mine.

I do note that one or two pictures are mirrored.....not from your scan, but obviously mirrored when developing the film in period. The picture looking into the back of the 8cwt (marked as 15cwt as mentioned by Bruce) is mirrored and one of the pictures with the trucks standing in a row is mirrored.

Al was disabled from an injury as an infant and so could not initially join the military. However, he wrote personally to The Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, and persuaded him to change the rules so that disabled personnel could serve but were not permitted to serve overseas.

Well done!

[Mike K]

Interesting to see the 11 set mounted directly onto the 8cwt side panel, no wooden wireless box or cabinet to be seen. Another case of improvisation which was typical of so many of these early wireless setups. Just goes to show there are no set rules to follow

Would be good to know what they thought of the equipment , like the performance of the 11 sets, range and so on with those mobile setups and antennas